Split Ends

Veteran Israeli artist Maya Gelfman presents her latest solo show at the Tel Aviv Artists House.

By JESSICA VRAZILEK
‘LAOCOONA AND BAUBO, 2016’ (photo credit: MAYA GELFMAN)
‘LAOCOONA AND BAUBO, 2016’
(photo credit: MAYA GELFMAN)
In a solo show at the Tel Aviv Artists House, Israeli contemporary artist Maya Gelfman (b.1978) debuts her paintings from the past two years. The exhibition, entitled “Split Ends” will be on show through December 31.
Her paintings are large, bold, colorful and expressive, and they focus on Gelfman’s affinity for colossal powers: Greek gods, monsters, demons and natural forces.
“The familiar existential struggle of mortals against larger-thanlife, external powers is essentially an internal one” said Gelfman.
Gelfman absorbs herself in the painting process, both physically and mentally. While creating, she makes grand gestures and works on all fours, much like a ritual dance or exorcism.
The works on show are “an embroidery of a new mythology, of which I am the center, and in which I am both myself and a representation of femininity” said Gelfman.
Also presented are two new installations, at the heart of which is a thick red braid that stems from hand-stitched dolls hanging from the ceiling and wrapping around a pillow-like boulder.
“The red braid unfurls, weaves and flows through the paintings and installations. Back and forth from drawn line to physical thread, from soft, draping matter to hard material that grasps and smothers” said Gelfman. “The paintings and installations unite to tackle the synthesis between the primal beast and brutal instinct on one end, and civilized Western man on the other.”
For more info on exhibit visit artisthouse.co.il or (03) 524-66885.